20190115 Prayers by Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura (Part 2)

mūkhaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī gurum dina tarinam
paramānanda mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya īśvaram
hari oṁ tat sat

Introduction: Today in Tamil Nadu the Poṅgal day. So all over in India it is celebrated in different ways. Today it is Makara-Saṅkrānti. In Assam it is Bihu, in Bengal is Boush Parbon in India they serve lots of cakes, piṭhās. In Tamil Nadu they have two kinds of Poṅgal – salty Pongal and sweet Poṅgal. I had Poṅgal this morning and this evening I had piṭhās. So since you all probably had Poṅgal today, tonight at the end of class, we will give you piṭhās – piṭhās means cake. Rice cakes are not the cakes you are used to but they are very nice and we have milk piṭhās – dūdha piṭhās for you!

Since we started little late, we will have class for half an hour.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.285

mithyā-gṛhavāse more pāḍiyācha bhole
tomā nā jāniyā mora janma gela hele

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura is offering his prayers to Lord Viśvambhara. If you have any word you have difficulty in understanding, note it down and give it to Ekarāni and we will practice that next week for the voice therapy. So Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, he said that I have fallen into the illusion of gṛhastha, householder life. If I did not know You, my life would have been wasted. Not knowing You, my birth would have been wasted.

So, in the verses before this Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura was offering some adapted verses that Lord Brahma offers to Kṛṣṇa. Now here he is saying something spontaneous about himself. He thinks that his being in the householder life was a waste of time because he didn’t know Lord Caitanya. Now he knows Lord Caitanya and so his life has got value. If we just think that the material life is the only thing to achieve, then that is illusion. Household life is alright as long as one advances in their spiritual life together.

Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said that talking amongst couple and touching each other is auspicious if, day by day they also advance in their devotional service. So, in this līlā, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura is married to Mālinī who is having motherly affection for Lord Nityānanda, and we know that Śrīvāsa was always chanting the holy names and worshiping the deities. So, he is saying this is this is in utmost humility. He is actually a māhā-bhāgavata, a great, pure devotee.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.286

nānā māyā kari’ tumi āmāre vañcilā!
sāji-dhuti-ādi kari’ sakali bahilā!

Jayapatākā Swami: You have deceived me through various illusions. You carried my flower basked and other things. Here Śrīvāsa is saying how Lord Caitanya, being a younger brahmana, He deceived him and took a humble role, carrying his stuff for him, and He is actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead who has come in the role of a devotee.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.287

tāte mora bhaya nāhi, śuna prāṇa-nātha!
tumi-hena prabhu more hailā sākṣāt

Jayapatākā Swami: Oh listen, Lord of my life, this does not give me any fear, for You have now revealed Yourself to me, before my very eyes.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.288

āji mora sakala-duḥkhera haila nāśa
āji mora divasa haila parakāśa

Jayapatākā Swami: Today all my miseries are destroyed. Today my fortunate day has arisen.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.289

āji mora janma-karma—sakala saphala
āji mora udaya—sakala sumaṅgala

Jayapatākā Swami: Today my life and activities have all become fruitful. Today has arisen all auspiciousness for me.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.290

āji mora pitṛ-kula haila uddhāra
āji se vasati dhanya haila āmāra

Jayapatākā Swami: Today my forefathers have all been delivered. Today, my home has become successful/auspicious.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.291

āji mora nayana-bhāgyera nāhi sīmātāṅre
dekhi—yāṅra śrī-caraṇa seve ramā”

Jayapatākā Swami: Today there is no limit to the good fortune of my eyes! I have seen, whose lotus feet are served by the goddess of fortune, Ramā-devī.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.292

prabhura prakāśa-darśane śrīvāsera premāveśe krandana o harṣātiśayya—

balite āviṣṭa hailā paṇḍita-śrīvāsa
ūrdhva bāhu kari’ kānde, chāḍe ghana śvāsa

Jayapatākā Swami: Speaking this way Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita became ecstatic. He raised his two hands in the air, he cried, he sighed deeply, Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.293

gaḍāgaḍi yāya bhāgyavanta śrīnivāsa
dekhiyā apūrva gauracandra-parakāśa

Jayapatākā Swami: The most fortunate Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura rolled on the ground, seeing the incomparable, beautiful form of Lord Gauracandra.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.294

ki adbhuta sukha haila śrīvāsa-śarīre
ḍubilena vipra-vara ānanda-sāgare

Jayapatākā Swami: What wonderful happiness filled the body of Śrīvāsa! The best of the brāhmaṇas was submerged in the ocean of bliss! BLISS!! HARIBOL! HARIBOL!

Thus ends the chapter entitled, “Prayers by Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura”, in the book Sri Kṛṣṇa Caitanya the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a devotee.

So Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁvināśāya ca duṣkṛtām - I deliver the sadhus and annihilate the miscreants. Many atheists, materialists, spread the false news that the soldiers were coming to arrest Śrīvāsa and all the vaiṣṇavas. But it was just a routine change of the guard. Lord Caitanya came before Śrīvāsa and manifested His four handed form to Śrīvāsa. And told him that there is nothing to worry about. I am HERE! And your loud chanting and loud shouting of Advaita Gosāñi has brought Me down from the spiritual world to here! So then He told him, he can offer prayers. So, we were reading for two days, the prayers of Śrīvāsa. He didn’t have to study, it just came natural. So, he was experiencing great ecstasy in seeing his Lord. That is the goal of human life. To see the Lord and to engage in His service.

Are there are any questions?

Bhanu Swali (Bhakti Bhava devi dasi)

Phāneśvarī Lakṣmī devī dāsī: Sometimes because of family responsibilities we are not able to able to have personal association with devotees. Although our family is supportive but not so much into Kṛṣṇa consciousness. How to keep up our enthusiasm?

Jayapatākā Swami: Since last time I had answered; I wonder which have you heard? I said that since this is the modern age of telephone and internet, you could contact your friends and some of the vaiṣṇavas from your house by telephone. So that way you can get association. Just like you are tune in to the class every night, I hope that my association is giving you some inspiration. The other thing is that our household duties we should offer as service to Kṛṣṇa. like keeping the house clean and cooking, this should be offered as a service to Kṛṣṇa. Like in the temple, we also clean the temple and in cooking you can offer your food to Kṛṣṇa and bringing up children to be devotees, is also Kṛṣṇa-sevā, and making your husband to be Kṛṣṇa conscious is also a service. Somehow if you can cultivate your parents and in-laws then instead of just being favorable, they can actually start to practice a little devotional service. That requires some expertise on your part like suppose your husband or your mother-in-law is saying, I have a difficulty in understanding this verse of Bhagavad-gītā - since you are such a Paṇḍita, you are so intelligent, you please help me to understand. But you may understand it and he may try to read it and tries to figure it. So there are various ways in which you can use your feminine intelligence to engage your in laws in devotional service! Thank you very much.

Kaivalya Sundarī: Since Śrīvāsa is an incarnation of Nārada muni, can you tell what qualities they both have, as devotees of the Lord?

Jayapatākā Swami: What qualities Śrīvāsa has, what qualities Nārada muni has, same.